The last action fans witnessed was Super Bowl XLVIII between the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos in February. / Adam Hunger,USA TODAY Sports

by Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

by Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

Granted, it's only the preseason schedule that the league announced Wednesday.

Nonetheless, this summer's exhibition season provides a more compelling reason to watch -- at least during the first two weeks of games that won't seem as meaningless.

That's because all eyes will be on the kickers come the Aug. 3 in the Hall of Fame game between the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants in Canton, Ohio. The game kicks off the experiment with longer extra-point kicks during the opening two weeks of this summer's games.

In what figures to be the first step toward making more difficult extra points permanent, point-after touchdown kicks will be spotted at the 20-yard line, effectively making extra points the equivalent of 38-yard field goal kicks.

Last month, owners voted down a proposal by the New England Patriots calling to move the spot of the ball from the traditional 2 to the 25-yard line for the coming season. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said that extra points had become "virtually automatic,'' questioning the point of kicks converted at a 99.6% rate last season.

So the competition committee, agreeing something needed to change, recommended the two-game experiment of kicking extra points from the 20, a tweak all 32 teams unanimously approved.

Two-point conversions will remain at the two-yard line.

But this could be the last go-round for a four-game preseason (five in the case of the Hall of Fame game participants) given the push for playoff expansion from six to seven teams in each conference. A likely concession to the NFL Players Association for that inevitable prospect would be the elimination of one preseason game.

Usually at this time of year, the league begins rolling out some of its marquee regular-season matchups. But that rollout was delayed until later this month with the draft pushed back until May 8-11 rather than occurring in its usual late April date due to a prior commitment at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Here are 10 of this summer's most intriguing reasons to watch:

1. There will be a Seahawks at Broncos Week 1 rematch of the Super Bowl XLVIII teams and a chance for the Broncos to wash the bitter taste of that 43-8 whipping out of their mouths.

2. Besides the Redskins debut of Philadelphia Eagles castoff DeSean Jackson, Washington's Week 1 matchup against the New England Patriots will mark Robert Griffin III's first preseason appearance in two years. Remember "Operation Patience?'' RG3 sat out last preseason coming off reconstructive knee surgery and he never really re-discovered his offensive rookie of the year groove. Question is whether RG3 will test new Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis?

3. Oakland's Week 1 game at Minnesota will be Matt Schaub's first chance to show he can get his career back on track after the former Houston Texans starter received a fresh start with the Raiders. And it is sure going to be strange seeing Justin Tuck and LaMarr Woodley wearing silver and black.

4. So about those receivers, Cam? Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton will get his first chance on a national stage to test his surgically-repaired ankle -- for about a series in Week 2's televised game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

5. The Josh McCown-Lovie Smith era makes its Week 1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers debut against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Smith gets his chance to show what a year off did for him after his firing following a 10-6, 2012 season in Chicago.

6. Former Panthers receiver Steve Smith gets to prove how much of an impact he'll have in helping Joe Flacco rebound from a 22-interception season in Baltimore's Week 1 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, a rematch of Super Bowl XLVII.

7. The compelling national matchup in Week 3 pits Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints against Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts.

8. Week 3, New York Giants at the New York Jets. This regular-season tuneup figures to decide the Jets quarterback battle between incumbent starter Geno Smith and veteran challenger Michael Vick. Hopefully, Rex Ryan learned his lesson from last year and doesn't re-insert his starter in the fourth quarter, the way he did Mark Sanchez, only to see him suffer a season-ending throwing shoulder injury.

9. If Vick is the backup, he'll get the chance to start the Jets' Aug. 28 Week 4 visit to Philadelphia, Vick's former team.

10. Week 4, San Francisco at Houston, Aug. 28, 49ers running back Marcus Lattimore, last year's fourth-round pick who spent a redshirt year rehabbing his reconstructed knee, will showcase his readiness to complement Frank Gore, who turns 31 May 14.